09-22-05 Meeting Summary

If you happened to miss this meeting you missed out on a very funny meeting
indeed!

Mike C was our toastmaster and was his usual comical self. He pointed
out some changes to our agenda then had Stacia S introduce our word of
the day.

The theme for the meeting was "life without football" and Stacia chose
"intercept" for our word of the day. She noted at the end of the meeting
that Mark H had used the word more then once during the meeting and
Mike had also used the word. She also pointed out some 'ums' that were
used by various speakers.

Laura was our first speaker and she gave her "The Rose Garden" speech.
Laura will be giving this tall tales speech on Friday September 30th at
Awada's for the Eastern Division contest. Please plan on going and
cheering her (and Eddie in the humorist speech contest) on.

Our second speaker of the day was Dave B giving his "Introduce this"
speech. Dave told us how important introductions were to speakers. He
feels there are three things that need to be accomplished in giving
introductions. The introduction needs to give credibility to the speaker,
tells the audience what they will be speaking about and grabs the audiences
attention.

Bill (or is it Bell?) S gave the table topics questions. First he
asked Kelly T how she would rate Daunte Culpepper as a quarterback.
Kelly said that she had no judgement on that since she has yet to even
watch the Vikings play this year. She did talk about her fantasy football
team and how she is doing so well with that so far.

Next Bill asked Kim C if Mike Tice is to blame for how poorly the
Vikings have been playing. Kim explained how Randy Moss had made everyone
mad at him, but she couldn't totally blame Mike Tice because she felt that
Red McCombs was more to blame as the owner of the team and Mike is just a
middle man.

Last Bill asked Laura C why it is that each year we hear so many
people saying that "This is the year that the Vikings will win the Super
Bowl!" Laura explained that it is the same way in our corporation when we
hear each year that we are going to exceed our sales goals. Its a goal
that is set for the team to try and achieve. They want to set them up for
success. However she also pointed out that the Vikings need to win games
if they are going to be able to achieve the winning of the Super Bowl!!

Gadder F was Laura's speech evaluator and Marion was Dave's speech
evaluator. Both did a great job in telling our speaker what they liked
about their speeches and good pointers as to how they can improve their
next speeches.

Eddie K was the general evaluator. Overall we had a great (and funny)
meeting.

See you soon...

09-15-05 Meeting Summary

Gadder F, Toastmaster for the first time, did an outstanding job of
leading an educational, informative and entertaining meeting. His theme
for the day was “Comedy Routines.” Gadder introduced the theme by talking
about his favorite routine, “The Three Stooges.” He recalled how his
father would keep his brother up late as children to watch the show on
television. His transitions between segments of the meeting were
meaningful and personal.

Mark H, our Wordmaster/Grammarian, chose the word guffaw as word of the
day. His precise count of “ums” and “ahs” left us all vowing to do better
next time.

Speaker # 1,Keri O, delivered an off-the-cuff speech about the Death
Penalty. This topic was selected by Laura C from a list of several
topics that Keri had prepared. Keri described how her thoughts about the
death penalty have changed as she has matured. When she was young, she
said, she was adamantly for the death penalty. As she has grown older and
since becoming a lawyer, her point of view has softened. She now
understands that cases are not always about right or wrong but about
winning and getting a conviction. She talked about how the Innocence
Project, which uses DNA evidence to shed new light on old cases, has shown
just how many innocent people are convicted. As a final thought, Keri
asked the question “Do we want to be a society that kills innocent people?”

Speaker # 2, Kelly T, delivered a speech entitled “Uh-Oh” to try
help the non-technical members of the audience like myself understand the
topic of “Object Oriented Programming.” In describing this kind of
programming, Kelly used an analogy with the method an author might use to
develop story characters and a plot. It was a very interesting
presentation that came close to giving me a grasp of this type of
programming -- at least while I was listening to Kelly’s speech.

As Topicsmaster, Jerry V almost left Kim C speechless with his
question “Why did the chicken cross the road?” Kim recovered well and her
response included the ideas that the chicken was looking for better organic
food and looking to escape danger. Jerry’s second question to Dave B
was “What is your favorite joke and why?” Dave explained that while he had
a dry and almost non-existent sense of humor, his preference was for clever
jokes that make you think.

Laura C, Evaluator # 1, described Keri as brave for taking on such a
tough subject. She noted that Keri’s facial expressions were appropriate
for the subject and her gestures were good. She said that Keri’s thoughts
flowed smoothly but that her speech could have benefited from a little
tighter structure.

Mike C, Evaluator # 2, said that Kelly did an excellent job presenting a
technical topic without overwhelming the audience. He noted that Kelly’s
tone, speed, mood and humor were right on target.

Laura G provided a very thorough overall evaluation of the meeting.
And last but not least, Kelly T received the Spririt Award.

09-08-05 Meeting Summary

We held the semi annual club meeting contest. Kelly T was our
toastmaster. She informed our contestants that they would not be
disqualified due to the time of their speeches. She told us that she had
to make formal introductions of the speakers as well. Kelly went over some
rules for the two types of speeches. Which included for the humorous
division the speech needs to be from 5-7 minutes, must be original and not
a monologue of one liners. After each speech there would be one minute of
silence for the members to cast their ballots.

Our speaker in the humorous contest division was Eddie Kaiser. His speech
was titled 'Mishap with the Mister'. His speech was about several mishaps
he had while in Austria with his friend Borgie.

After Eddies speech we observed our minute of silence.

Next Kelly told us of some rules for the Tall Tales contest which included
the speech must be original, 3-5 minutes in length, needs to be highly
exaggerated with a theme or plot.

Our speaker for the Tall Tales contest was Laura Griffith. Her speech was
titled 'Savor the Moment'. Laura's speech was about taking time in your
life to savor the moments.

After Laura's speech we observed our minute of silence.

Next Kelly formally announced that our clubs winner for the humorous
contest was....Eddie K and our winner for the Tall Tales contest
was....Laura G.

Congratulations to the both of you! Good luck at the area contest (Tuesday
Sept 13th at the Burlington Northern Building), Please come and support our
two great speakers next week!

Marian J evaluated Eddies speech and Dan Bennek evaluated Laura's
speech. Afterwards several members also gave our two speakers some helpful
tips and hints to further polish their speeches for the area contest.

Kathy J was our timer. Laura's speech was 4 min 45 sec and Eddies
speech was somewhere between 6 and a half and 7 and a half minutes
(apparently there was a slight problem with the timing of Eddies speech)

Have a great weekend! See you next week!!

09-01-05 Meeting Summary

Theme: Labor Day
Our Toastmaster, Marian J, started the meeting right on time.
Although the original theme was Labor Day, Marian opted to also include
recent events in New Orleans. A number of meeting attendants have been to
New Orleans. From a business perspective, the disaster there affects us at
Securian, since we bought a large block of Pan-Am business, and they are
based in New Orleans. Meeting participants were encouraged to discuss
either Labor Day or recent events related to Hurricane Katrina when they
spoke. Marian introduced our guest, Liz M, Area 14 Governor. Liz is
making her rounds, visiting each of the clubs in her area.

Marian asked duty holders to explain their duty, and introduced timer
Stacia S. Stacia recently joined the disaster area team. For a couple
of days a month, she is on call and will respond to disasters as needed,
helping people evacuate, etc. She encouraged us all to join.

Wordmaster/Grammarian Mike C introduced the word of the day, drudgery.
Drudger is a noun, meaning a hard, monotonous, routine work (synonyms are
plodding, grind, donkeywork). He used it in the following sentence:
"Paradise was a place of bliss... without drudgery and without sorrow." --
Locke

Our first speaker was Gadder F, with a speech titled "Write Your
Life." Gadder suggested that we all write regularly in a journal. Writing
is easy, helpful, and eye-opening. Most people think of a journal as
something fancy and expensive, bought at Borders or Barnes and Noble, but
that doesn't have to be the case. Writing in a $2 notebook is just as
effective. Most people also feel that writing has to be eloquent, but
really, says Gadder, it doesn't have to be complicated. Instead, we should
keep it simple. Write about something, an emotion, a thought, a goal.
Just the process of writing is helpful. Writing provides both a thoughtful
reflection on your life, and practice with the lost are to writing. We get
stuck in ruts in our daily lives, and don't even think about our days as we
get up, go to work, go to sleep, and repeat. Writing makes us really think
about it. Writing is also eye-opening. You learn things about yourself by
going back and reading what you wrote. Gadder encouraged us all to write
about our lives.

Marian seconded Gadder's encouragement by explaining that writing letters
home after moving to the US got her in the habit of writing. Eventually,
this brought her back to school to study journalism.

Our second speaker was Laura "Emma" C. Laura presented a terrific
example of a Tall Tales speech, which won her 1st Place in the District
speech contest in 2000. In the character of Emma, Laura retold her
adventures in Africa, tickling a tiger, rescuing her satchel from under an
elephant, and sinking into quicksand, all of which lead her to Nairobi
Ruby. Her adventures taught her that life is in the journey, not the
destination.

Kim C provided Table Topics questions for today's meeting:
1. What do you do to celebrate Labor Day?
Lori Galloway celebrates Labor Day with her family, taking a picnic in the
park, throwing frisbees, then grilling dinner at home, sitting on the
patio, and sharing drinks with the neighbors. She's hoping for good
weather this weekend (aren't we all?).
2. What's an act of drudgery for you?
For Eddie K, drudgery is just getting up in the morning. Morning
comes too soon for Eddie, and inevitably he hits the snooze button too many
times, has to throw himself together and run for the bus. And then there's
a "unique" lady who rides his bus and has a habit of standing way too close
for comfort (and of chasing pigeons, but that's another story).
3. Why is Labor Day a holiday?
Laura G said that Labor Day can be contrasted with Memorial Day, in
that we're celebrating that we're alive and able to work. Laura's mom has
a different explanation. Laura was born on Aug. 31, a month early.
Laura's mom remembers when Labor Day is because she was in labor, on or
near Labor Day. Therefore, Labor Day is in honor of Laura.

Betsy S evaluated Gadder's speech. She found it inspiring and
enjoyable. The speech was well-organized throughout, and tied up nicely at
the end. She noticed that Gadder was nervous, hiding behind the table and
occasionally clasping his hands. She was impressed with his eye contact,
hand gestures, and overall content. Overall, the speech was very
persuasive and motivating.

Keri O, our Humorist/Inspirer, spoke about volunteering at the
Toastmasters booth at the State Fair. A woman stopped by the booth. When
asked if she was familiar with Toastmasters, she replied "Well, my
husband's a Teamster." For inspiration, Keri talked about persistence.
Yesterday at the fair, she found out that her tomatoes didn't win any
prizes. At first, she felt like she'd wasted her time. But, then she
realized that she did get lots of tomatoes from her efforts, and they're
good to eat, and she'll try again next year. Similarly, her dentist has
been suggesting flossing for years, suggestions which she has ignored.
Well, finally she decided to give it a try and flossed regularly for 6
months. Her teeth were much better at the last checkup. You can't always
see results right away, but persistence pays off.

Times for today's speeches:
Gadder 6:20
"Emma" 5:36
Betsy 1:36
Keri 3:15

Stacia later admitted that she did have time for the Table Topics
respondents, though we never had enough time to hear those times.

Mike said that he was bad at counting uses of the word of the day, and
thanked Kim for pointing out everyone else who had used it (Kim, Lori,
Eddie - 3 times!). Mike claims to have a monopoly on ahs and ums.

Dave B, our general evaluator, felt that Marian did a good job
overall, and had good transitions. He would have liked to see her lead the
clapping more. He liked Mike's use of humor, said that Stacia did a good
job but may want to show how the lights work when introducing her duty next
time, and enjoyed Kim's open-ended questions. Eddie used great gestures
and actions during his table topics response, and both Lori and Laura had
good mini-speeches. Betsy gave an excellent evaluation, complete with
developmental points, what was done well, and specific examples. Dave said
that he would like to see people provide better introductory material for
their speeches, and will talk about this at a later meeting.

The Spirit award went to Laura C for her entertaining speech.

In business items, Laura G reminded us that Laura C's speech
was an example of a Tall Tales speech, and the Tall Tales and Humorous
speech contest is next week. Everyone is encouraged to participate.

Liz M, area governor, took a few minutes to remind us that the area
Tall Tales and Humorous speech contest is coming up, and she hopes that
there is one contestant for each contest from our club. She also will be
looking for judges for the area contest. Liz reminded us about the
Distinguished Club Plan, the 10 points that we should strive to earn, and
the 11th point, which is to have 20 members or more at the end of the year.

Note from the VP of Ed (that's me!): At this point, we should be able to
make President's Distinguished Club again. The following people are
planning to complete designations this year:
CTM: Bill S
Lori G
Gadder F
Jerry V

ATM: Kelly T
Mark H or Mike C, whichever finishes first

CL: Keri O
Eddie K (complete!)

The only other points which may prove difficult are getting new members.
Gadder and Stacia both count toward the total for the year, but that leaves
6 more new members needed. Keep asking those friends and co-workers to
come to our meetings as guests!

08-25-05 Meeting Summary

Thursday, Aug. 25

Theme: State Fair
Toastmaster: Bill S

Bill S kicked off our meeting on time and noted
changes on the schedule. Laura G, our
wordmaster, described the many different uses and
meanings for the word stick (appropriate for the
theme, of course!). Jerry V was our timer and told
us that he’s never actually purchased any food on a
stick.

Lori G was our first speaker with her speech,
“Cruising.” She told us of a girl’s only cruise she
took with her sister-in-law and friends on the
northeast coast. Lori particularly liked Maine, and
she bought many items which displayed the word “Maine”
on them. She found great shopping in Peggy’s Cove
shipping village and also discovered the only
lighthouse that houses a post office. Lori had a great
time on this cruise and plans to take many more.

Eddie K was our second speaker. His speech
entitled, “Ringmaster at Toastmasters” compared
Toastmasters with the circus. Eddie noted several
common elements such as variations in theme for
meetings/circus performances and hard work by all
members. He noted the similarity to Toastmaster’s
speakers to the main attraction at the circus. He even
passed out circus animal crackers for us to enjoy as
the audience.

Stacia S was our Topcismaster. She asked three
questions that related to the state fair:

1. What would you invent for a new item on a stick at
the fair?
Our guest Violet answered that she may invent some
sort of ice cream treat that would really “stick to
your ribs.”
2. What is the history of putting food on a stick?
Marian J answered that she didn’t really know
the exact history, but guessed that vendors began
putting food on a stick so people could have their
hands free while eating. She also noted that in
Minnesota, eating is the number one priority.
3. What do you think the state fair will look like in
2050?
Laura G answered that she thought the fair
would look pretty much the same, except that instead
of walking all the people attending the fair would be
on segways.


Kim C evaluated Lori’s speech. She was impressed
that Lori didn’t use any notes and also pushed back
the main table. She noted that Lori used many
gestures, and suggested that she gesture bigger and
with purpose in the future.

Dave B evaluated Eddie’s speech. Dave
complimented Eddie on his good speaking style and
noted it has been fun to watch Eddie progress in
Toastmasters. He thought Eddie did a good job
summarizing the elements of Toastmasters and relating
them the circus. He commented on Eddie’s good use of
PowerPoint and applauded Eddie on his speech without
notes.
Marian J was our general evaluator and also
inspiration/humorist. She quickly told us of the
Dahlia exhibit at the fair and then gave her
evaluation of our meeting. She liked Bill’s humor and
also thought Laura picked a good word for the day. She
noted that Stacia asked good, open-ended questions and
thought the speech evaluations were outstanding.

Lori G was our spirit award winner today.